Defying the Natures of Nothing
by Demonrawr
Summary: The story takes place on day 327, in which the two young organization members acknowledge their feelings for one another.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I:

Setting: Castle Oblivion

Date: Day 327

His ocean blue eyes gazed at the stark white ceiling as he awoken from his slumber. His eyes shifted around, processing the rest of his room which was also stark white. The color truly evokes the feeling of nothingness. Solely one thing in his room that was distinguishable from the blandness was the window that stretches on the left side of his bed. It had a vast view of The Dark City that rested below The Castle That Never Was. Neon lights from the skyscrapers clash with the darkness, displaying an array of colors.

Roxas sat himself up on his bed, still hazy from his restless slumber.

"Ugh…" _Why do I feel so tired? I have not been sleeping properly… It feels like my body is drained of energy. I don't know what's going on with me._

Roxas got up from his bed, walked to his closet, and got out a new pair of the iconic uniform of Organization XII which consists of a single long silky black leathered hooded coat, loose black pants, and a pair of black leathered gloves. Once changed, he stretched his arms and rubbed his aching neck.

"Ah; I think I'll be fine." Roxas then headed to the lounge (The Grey Area) to receive his daily mission.

XXX

"Huh?" _I must have arrived too early._

To his astonishment, no other members were present in the darker shaded room. The various white couches in the room was vacant of organization members seeking comfort, unfortunately, the seats themselves provide no pleasure. On the wall opposite of him was a giant window divided in columns. In the view, the incomplete Kingdom Hearts was suspended in the sky, magnificently illuminating the room with its brilliance.

"All of the hearts collected by me and Xion…" Roxas said faintly as he admired the heart shaped moon.

"Good morning, Roxas. Are you feeling better?" A concerned voice said that startled him. It was a raven-haired girl with azure blue eyes that was similar to his, it was Xion.

"X-Xion, you startled me!" Roxas said with disconcertment in his expression and voice. Normally, Xion would laugh softly at his reaction; however, she was too worried about his sake at the moment.

"Are you okay?" She repeated. _He still looks pale… If I am around him any longer, he will soon break down._

"I am fine! You shouldn't worry so much, Xion." He answered, a bright smile appearing on his face.

"Okay…" Her mouth curled into a small smile by his response.

_She has been like this for quite a while now, constantly asking how I feel whenever we see each other… It warms my chest when she does though, is that normal?_

"I see that you two are the first to be present." A third voice echoed in the room.

The two turned around to discover that it was Saix.

"It seems that there have been multiple accounts of Windbreakers at Halloween Town. Today, you two shall be appointed together to eradicated them. Remain focused and fulfill your mission quickly."

"Understood." Both said in unison in response to Saix's order.

"Let's head out, Xion!" Roxas said with a gleeful tone in his voice. He was happy to have a mission with her.

Xion nodded in agreement and lifted her hand to conjure up a dark corridor in which she entered with Roxas following behind her.

XXX

Setting: Halloween Town

A black portal appeared at the entrance of the eerie town and out came the two keyblade wielders. As the portal lowered into a swirling vortex, the two look at one another.

"Our objective today is to eliminate five Windstormers, seems easy enough. Let's do our best to hurry so that we can have some ice cream together!" Roxas suggested excitedly.

Xion smiled brilliantly at her friend's response. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"Let's go!" signifying their departure as he breaks into a run to the town with his keyblade appearing in a flash of light.

Xion then summoned her keyblade as well, staring down at the giant key in her hand.

"Roxas…" _I remembered when I was able to use my keyblade again… It was all due to Roxas lending me his own keyblade, so that I could recall how to bring forth my own. The handle was so warm… It was as if I was holding his hand. Well, he did hold onto my hand when I was able to summon my keyblade again…_

Suddenly, her cheeks were flushed red with heat radiating from them. Fortunately, it reminded her of the mission at hand and she began dashing after Roxas.

XXX

Running towards the gate of Halloween Town, he stopped to turn around, only to encounter a hurdling Xion who knocked him down on his bottom along with their keyblades flying out of their hands. The two were on top of one another with Xion being on top.

"Ow… Xion! What was that for?" Roxas exclaimed, pretending to be mad.

"Me? It was you who suddenly stopped!" Xion replied in a fake irritable voice as she got up to her knees and placed her hands on her hips.

Witnessing this, Roxas could not avoid the urge to laugh loudly, still on the ground. It felt good to him to be able to talk in such a way with her. It made him happy.

"Come on, let's defeat those Windstormers." Xion said softly as his laughter filled her up.

Before she could get up, Roxas closed in near her and examined her face by removing his glove and placing his bare hand on her cheeks.

"Hey…are you feeling well? Your cheeks are really red and warm." Roxas said as he gazes into her eyes. There was a hint of concern in his voice.

"Y-yeah…I'm okay." Xion replied nervously as she return his gaze, causing her to turn even redder.

_Why is it getting difficult to breath? Maybe I really am not feeling well…_

Just then, they were interrupted by five Windstormers spawning in the town's center. They were fairly big dragon-like heartless and were the color of turquoise, aside from their shoulder pads and claws which were solid black. A tail stretched from behind them, forming a hook at the end. Their beady yellow eyes were fixed on the two, ready to attack.

Quickly, the keyblade wielders stood up with their keyblades returning to their hands. The two lashed out at one together, strategically eradicating them one at a time with the combination of thundaga and aerial attacks. Soon, only two remains of the five.

"Thundaga!" Roxas casted at one of the beast's head, however, it evaded his attack by twirling its body at him. He attempted to pivot on his right foot, trying to avoid the attack, unfortunately, it was too late. He collided with the beast and hurled towards a house within the town. Jolts of agonizing pain spread throughout his body as he impacted against the building. His vision became groggy and he began seeping out of consciousness.

"ROXAS!" Witnessing his infliction, Xion became outraged which unlocked hidden abilities that was dormant in Sora's memories. She descended into the air as light engulfed her body until she was completely devoured in light. She then unleashed a powerful light-based attack in the form of beams that instantly eliminated the remaining two Windstormers, resulting in two giant hearts floating towards the sky.

Without observing her victorious deed, she rushes to Roxas' side, placing his head on her knee while grasping strongly onto his hand. She was overwhelmed with a dreaded feeling…

"Roxas! Roxas! Please…wake up! I can't lose you…" Xion pleaded in devastation.

_What is this…? Is this what they call…grief?_

"R-Roxas… P-please…" She was unable to speak coherently as her voice trembled and quivered as her body had. Tears rushed down her face which dripped onto Roxas' face. She hung her head with hers eyes shut closed.

_Am I… crying? But how, how am I able to if I am just a doll…?_

Just then, she felt Roxas' hand tightened around hers. Bewildered by his gesture, she opened her eyes to meet a Roxas with deep concernment on his face.

"Hey… Why are you crying?" He spoke softly, trying to comfort her.

She quickly wiped her tears with her sleeves. "R-Roxas! You're okay…!"

"Of course, I wouldn't leave so easi-" His sentence was halted by her embrace. Warmth enveloped his body as she held her arms around his shoulders. She was delicately sobbing into his left shoulder. Roxas then sat himself up and return her embrace which caused her to gasp faintly.

"Don't cry…I don't like seeing my friends sad…especially you, Xion."

"Roxas…" She said in the quietest voice. His words and embrace had filled her up with warmth that replaced her dread and grief, a feeling that she could not explain. Gradually, her sobbing ceased and the two got up and left the town, hand in hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Setting: Twilight Town

As a roaring trolley made its last rounds around the town, a dark corridor opened up in an empty parking space of the Tram Common. The sun had descended down beyond the horizon of the afternoon and was already setting into twilight, painting the sky a tangelo orange with pale red-violet clouds. It was an unfamiliar view to the usual three that often visited Twilight Town. Hands still clenched to one another, the young organization members walked out of the appearing black portal.

"Wow... We must have taken longer than I thought." Roxas said in a disbelieving tone.

"I doubt that Axel will be waiting at the clock tower then…" There was sadness in his words as his eye lowered down.

"Yeah… But I am just glad that you are okay, Roxas." Xion replied, hoping to brighten her friend. Fortunately, her words had consoled him for it caused him to forget about the absent of their friend and he began chuckling softly.

_There she goes again, worrying about me… I wonder, am I important to her -something…to protect?_

"Hey! What's so funny?" Xion pouted as she nudged lightly at him.

"Just…something. ~" Roxas intentionally said in a manner that caused her to be curious.

"Well? What is it?"

"It's a secret…" Roxas whispered softly as he placed his right index figure in front of his lips, gesturing "Shhh…"

Xion gasped loudly then folded her arms. "Fine! Meanie…" She had puckered her lips and closed her eyes as she twisted her head away from Roxas.

Unable to hold in his laughter, Roxas released his boisterous laughs, resulting in pain in his sides. Xion soon joined in his laughter until their chuckle had subsided and the two once again gaze at one another, intensely looking into each others eyes. The sky gleamed in Xion's beautiful blue eyes, causing Roxas' cheeks to redden.

_Ah… Her eyes are just so alluring... _

"Hey, Roxas? Are you feeling well?" Xion asked, bringing Roxas back from his internal thoughts.

"Yeah… it's just, your eyes are very beautiful." Realizing his embarrassing statement, he began swaying his eyes back and forth nervously.

"Oh!" It was now Xion's turn to blush. She bowed her head as her chest began fluttering.

_I'm having a strange sensation in my chest again…_

"Uh… Let's hurry up to the stand before it closes!" Roxas said, desperate to avoid the awkward conversation.

"Y-yeah!" And with that, the two footsteps echoed throughout the streets.

As they carried on to the sweets stand, Roxas' leg suddenly buckled severely and he began collapsing, resulting in what would have been a collision to the ground. However, Xion had managed to support him back up, inches away from the concrete floor.

"Roxas!" Xion cried sharply as she turned towards him.

"Argh… Those Windstormers must have taken more out of me than I thought." He smiled dimly as he winced due to the pain.

"We should return to the castle and have you checked on!"

"I'm fine! I really want to eat ice cream with you… We have not done so lately, so let's return once we finish eating." Roxas pleaded sadly.

"But, ah…" _Why does my chest ache when I hear him speak so sadly…? In truth…I wish to be with him as well, there are just so many things I want to talk to him about… _Unable to deny his request, she smiled and nodded in agreement.

Gaining a second wind, Roxas managed to stand up and the two once again set foot towards the stand.

XXX

The elderly woman at the sweets stand was preparing to close for the night, sorting boxes back on the shelf when suddenly a young man's voice surprised her.

"Two sea salt ice cream, please."

She turned around to meet two adolescents dressed in similar black overalls and recognize one of them as a usual customer of hers.

"Certainly! You two sure have perfect timing, I was about to close the shop." She replied cheerfully as she reached into the freezer and took out two ice cream wrapped in a translucent sheet.

"That will be 40 munny then, dear." She then proceeded to give Roxas the two alice-blue popsicles.

Roxas reached into his pocket and took out four 10 munny coins for the lady.

"Here, Xion." Roxas said happily as he turned around and handed her one of the wrapped popsicles.

"Thank you." She smiled as she took the frozen treat from his hand. She could still feel the stinging cold sensation of the ice cream even with her gloves on.

"You two make a very lovely couple." The lady complimented wholeheartedly as she observed the interaction between the two customers in front of her. Hearing this, Roxas was puzzled by her statement.

"A…couple? What is a couple?" He questioned curiously, facing back to her. Xion was intrigued as well and the lady quickly received two sets of eager eyes.

"Well, isn't she your girlfriend?" The lady then pointed to Xion which startled her slightly.

"…She is a girl and she's my friend."

"No, no; a girlfriend is someone you like very much, or perhaps even love, dear."

Both Roxas and Xion was struck in their chest by a word that the lady had said, a word they were not truly familiar with; "love". Realizing that this was a great opportunity to ask the question that his friend, Axel, could not, he decided to ask the lady, a person with a heart.

"What does love…feel like?" Roxas asked, anxious for an answer. Xion was anxious as well for she held her breath when she heard Roxas asked the question.

"Well…" The lady paused for a moment, contemplating of how to describe "love" to her two curious customers. "Love is very complicated to explain for everyone has their own meaning of it… To me, love is something that drives us to do the most illogical things; we would even risk our very lives for it. But no matter what the price or consequences may be, we still fight to protect our love. 'Why?' you may ask, well…it is simply our very nature to. You see, love has no bounds for it is present in all worlds, even in worlds you never imagine for such a feeling to exist. Due to its boundlessness, it provides you with extraordinary strength to carry on the battle."

"Through all of the sourness that you've endure, you are rewarded with a delicious flavor. Like those sea salt ice creams, love is sweet as well. You can continue to smile and laugh as that person is by your side and a great sensation of vibrant warmth envelops your body as they embrace you in their arms that it feels as if you can not breathe. You feel as if you are safe and protected as they hold you, and in turn, you wish to protect them as well."

"Ah…" Roxas was registering every word that she had said, realizing that he does experience ever single aspects that she had described. _Is it possible…that I love Xion then…? _

Xion was deep in thought as well, studying the ground then suddenly looking up at her friend. As she observed the details of his back, her lips slowly mouthed "Roxas…"

"Well, it is time for me to close the shop and head home. You kids enjoy your ice cream and get home safely!" Her voice echoed into Xion's and Roxas' ears as the shops gate shut down in front of them.

"…Xion?" her name escaping his lips nervously.

"Y-yeah…?"

"Let's head to the clock tower before our ice cream melt."

"Okay…"

Roxas raised one of his hands, opening a corridor and the two step through it.

XXX


End file.
